CLIPPERS PUT ON CONFUSED EXHIBITION.

Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer

The Clippers have six days in which to gain some type of consistency.

The club finished 2-6 in the exhibition season and a day after beating Vancouver looked awful in a 113-84 loss to Denver on Friday night at the Sports Arena. An announced crowd of 5,281 watched the lopsided matchup.

The Clippers shot 35 percent from the field and appeared completely confused on offense and lost on defense. The new-look Nuggets, with seven new players, simply ran a motion offense to set up dunks. If dunks weren't there, point guard Mark Jackson simply swung the ball to Dale Ellis for one of four 3-pointers.

``The exhibition season is over,'' Clippers coach Bill Fitch said. ``I'm glad. We have to get some things together.''

A 29-6 run in the first quarter erased any Clippers chance of winning, even with Stanley Roberts playing 17 minutes.

Malik Sealy led the Clippers with 13 points, but the point-guard position continues to be of concern. Pooh Richardson missed eight of 10 shots while Darrick Martin was 1 for 6.

LaPhonso Ellis led Denver with 22 points and Dale Ellis had 17.

Injury report: Clippers guard Terry Dehere sat out the game with a sprained medial collateral ligament but should be ready for the season opener.

The team will take today off, then practice at its Carson site and the Sports Arena until Thursday.

Adventures with the Duckman: Could Kevin Duckworth be back to his Portland Trail Blazers form after Thursday night's 17-point performance against Vancouver?

Not quite, says Duckworth.

``You'll see true form when I'm lighter, much lighter,'' Duckworth said. ``Right now it's coming back, I can feel it.''

Duckworth has turned from a long shot to make the squad to a possible starter next Friday in the season opener at Golden State.

Roberts saw more extensive action while Duckworth played just six minutes in the first quarter and sat because of muscle spasms. He finished with no points and two rebounds.

New place, same face: The Sports Arena welcomed back a familiar face on Friday, former Clipper Mark Jackson, now a member of the Denver Nuggets if you lost track.

Jackson is two teams removed from his Clippers days, but his two years in Los Angeles were memorable.

``I have nothing but good things to say about my time here,'' Jackson said. ``They treated me great here.''

Jackson was a member of the Clippers' last playoff team in 1992-93. Things were on an upswing, then problems with Danny Manning and Ron Harper turned a budding playoff team into a 27-55 squad in one season.

``Losing Danny was tough,'' Jackson said. ``Things weren't building in my final year. There were a lot of changes.''

After that season, Jackson was traded, Manning and Harper were gone and coach Larry Brown took a job with the Indiana Pacers.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: The Clippers' Malik Sealy blocks the shot of the Nug gets' Bryant Stith during a Sports Arena exhibition game.

Associated Press